Iron supporting linkage



P 14, 1954 E. E. FOSTER IRON SUPPORTING LINKAGE Filed Aug. 25, 1952 ATTORNEYS.

Patented Sept. 14, 1954 UNITED STATiLfi PATENT OFFICE 6 Claims.

This invention relates to an iron supporting linkage and more particularly to a linkage for supporting an iron above an ironing board for movement parallel to and above the board and vertically into engagement with articles on the board.

I have heretofore proposed, for example in my Patents Nos. 1,985,891, 2,231,896, 2,369,732, and 2,555,639, to provide an ironing mechanism in which the iron is supported for movement above and generally parallel to an ironing board and is movable vertically into engagement with articles on the board. In such mechanisms, it is necessary that the iron be so supported that when it is lowered to its ironing position the lifting force thereon be eliminated or reduced to a minimum so that the weight of the iron will be effective on the articles being ironed. Various mechanisms to accomplish this purpose have been proposed in my patents above mentioned and in my copending application Serial No. 217,026 filed March 22, 1951, now Patent No. 2,644,255, dated July '7, 1953, it has been proposed to utilize a counterbalance spring member effective when the iron is lowered to counterbalance the lifting force of the main spring and which is controlled by a releasable latch to remove the counterbalancing effect when desired. The present invention relates to a mechanism of this same general type and has for one of its objects the provision of a linkage which is extremely simple and inexpensive to manufacture, which embodies a minimum number of parts and which is elficient and reliable in operation.

Another object is to provide an iron supporting linkage in which the counterbalancing spring is an extremely simple laterally flexible spring pivoted on one of the links to be deflected when the links are swung to lower the iron and which is normally held against pivotal movement by a releasable latch mechanism.

According to one feature of the invention, the counterbalancing spring is in the form of a bell crank spring pivoted at its center on one of the links and engaged by a part on the other link which moves on one end of the spring toward the pivot as the iron is lowered.

According to another feature the latch mechanism is formed by a pivoted handle whose free end moves generally along the other end of the bell crank spring to engage and hold it against pivotal movement in one position of the handle and which releases the spring to relax the tension therein in another position of the handle.

The above and other objects and features of the invention will be more readily apparent when viewed in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a side View with parts in section of an iron supporting linkage embodying the invention;

Figure 2 is a partial view similar to Figure 1 showing the iron in its lowered position and Figure 3 is a perspective View of the counterbalancing spring.

As shown the linkage of the invention is adapted to support a conventional hand iron 10 for movement above an ironing board and for vertical movement into engagement with articles on the board. The iron is adapted to be carried by a main linkage partially indicated at I l which may be constructed as more particularly described and claimed in my copending application Serial No. 220,956, filed April 13, 1951, now Patent No. 2,648,146, dated August 11, 1953, so that its free end is movable in a plane above and parallel to the plane of the ironing board.

The supporting linkage of the present inven-- tion comprises a link I 2 which may be in the form of a hollow metallic stamping and which is rigidly secured to the handle of the iron as indicated at 13 to project thereabove. The upper end of the link 12 is pivoted at M to an upper link I5 which may also be in the form of a hollow stamping. At its free end the link I5 is connected through a ball member [6 to the free end of the main linkage II.

A tension spring ll lies within the hollow link l5 and is adjustably connected at one end to the free end thereof through a yoke 18 and a threaded bolt [9. At its opposite end the spring IT is connected to a pin 2| in the hollow link l2 at a point spaced from the pivot 14.. Tension in the spring I? urges the links to the position shown in Figure 1 in which the link 15 lies strictly horizontal to hold the iron spaced above the ironing board. When the iron is forced down onto the ironing board the linkage will assume the posi tion shown in Figure 2 in which the spring H is tensioned and in which its line of action between its connection to the two links moves closer to the pivot it. Thus the leverage of the spring is reduced so that its lifting effect on the iron is maintained substantially constant or may actually be reduced if desired.

In the lowered position of the iron the spring 11 still exerts a lifting force thereon sufiicient to lift the iron so that the weight of the iron is not effective on the articles being ironed. To counteract the efiect of the spring H in the ironing position so that the weight of the iron will press against the articles being ironed, a counterbalancing spring 22 is provided. As shown, the counterbalancing spring is in the form of a spring wire looped at its center into loops 23 with its end portions lying at an angle to each other in the form of a bell crank. The center loops 23 are pivoted on a pin 24 in the link l2 with the upper arm of the bell crank shown as a plane loop 25 extending substantially horizontal and with the lower arm of the bell crank 26 extending substantially vertically. The ends of the spring wire meet at the bottom of the lower arm 26 and are connected by a wire plate 21 crimped over the wires as best seen in Figure 3.

To hold the counterbalancing spring against pivotal movement a latch mechanism is provided shown as comprising an elongated latch handle 28 pivoted on the iron handle at 29 on a horizontal axis remote from the link I2. The free end of the latch handle 28 is movable in a generally vertical direction along the lower end 26 of the bell crank spring from the position shown in full lines in Figure 2 to approximately the position shown in dotted lines in the same figure. The free end of the latch handle carries a pivoted arm 3! having at its lower end a roller 32 to roll along the end 26 of the bell crank spring. The lever 3| carries an adjusting screw 33 engageable with the latch handle so that the position of the lever and the roller 32 can be adjusted to adjust the eifective tension of the bell crank spring.

When the iron is raised as shown in Figure l the bell crank spring is completely ineffective so that the full efiect of the main lifting spring I! acts on the linkage to lift the iron and to hold it elevated. When the iron is pressed down by engagement of the operators hand with the latch handle 28 a roller 34 carried by the upper link at a point spaced below the pivot M will engage the free end of the upper end of the bell crank spring and will move thereon toward the pivot pin 24. The roller 34 is so positioned that as it rolls along the end 25 of the bell crank spring it will deflect the spring as illustrated in Figure 2. As long as the latch handle 28 is held down, which can be accomplished with the exertion of a very small force, the roller 32 will engage the wire plate 21 and hold the spring against pivoting about the pin 24. Therefore in the lowered position of the iron the counterbalancing spring 22 will exert a relatively high force on the roller 34 due to the short lever arm between the pin 24 and the point of engagement of the roller 34 with the spring tending to counteract the effect of the spring i'l. By properly adjusting the screw 33 the counterbalancing spring can be made to balance the main lifting spring exactly or even to overbalance the main lifting spring so that a downward force will be exerted on the iron through the linkage.

As soon as the operator releases the latch handle 28 the latch handle and roller 32 will move upward to the position shown in dotted lines in Figure 2 due to the eilect of the spring 22 thereon. This allows the lower end 26 of the spring 22 to swing to the right thereby relaxing the tension of the counterbalancing spring so that the main lifting spring I! will be effective to raise the iron. It will thus be seen that as long as the operators hand remains on the latch handle the counterbalancing spring will be effective to counterbalance the main lifting spring. As soon, however, as the operators hand is removed from the handle the counterbalancing spring will be ineffective and the main lifting spring will raise the iron above the ironing board.

The spring 22 is so designed that as the iron is moved down the roller 34 will gradually load the spring 22. Preferably the springs are so designed and adjusted that a relatively small force, equal to approximately the weight of the operators hand, on the iron handle will move the iron down so that no conscious effort is required. At about the position of the parts with the iron on the thickest material, about A", the roller 34 crosses center and the spring 22 acts thereon in a direction to oppose the spring l1. At this time the spring 22 is deflected the maximum amount to exert the maximum counterbalance force on the linkage through a relatively short radius.

If the iron is moved down farther to engage thin material the roller 34 will move closer to the pivot 24 and the spring 22 will be deflected slightly less but acts on the linkage through a greater efiective radius. Thus, by properly designing the parts the spring 22 can be made to have a substantially constant counterbalancing effect for all positions of the iron for material between maximum and minimum thickness.

While one embodiment of the invention has been shown and described in detail, it will be understood that this is illustrative only and not to be taken as a definition of the scope of the invention, reference being had to this purpose to the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Iron supporting linkage comprising a pair of links pivotally interconnected at one end, one of the links being formed at its other end for connection to an iron, means at the other end of the other link for connection to a supporting member to support the links and the iron above an ironing board, a spring connected to the links urging them in one direction about their pivotal interconnection to raise the iron, 21 second laterally flexible spring pivoted intermediate its ends on one of the links, a part on one of the links engageabie with one end portion of the second spring and movable from the free and toward the pivot thereof when the links are moved in the other direction about their pivotal interconnection to lower the iron, and a releasable latch member engageable with the other end portion of the second spring.

2. Iron supporting linkage comprising a pair of links pivotally interconnected at one end, one of the links being formed at its other end for connection to an iron, means at the other end of the other link for connection to a supporting member to support the links and the iron above an ironing board, a spring connected to the links urging them in one direction about their pivotal interconnection to raise the iron, a second laterally flexible spring unit pivoted intermediate its ends on one of the links and having end portions extending outward from the pivot and angularly movable relative to each other as the spring flexes, a part on one of the links engageable with one end portion of the second spring and movable from the free end toward the pivot thereof when the links are moved in the other direction about their pivotal interconnection to lower the iron, a latch handle pivoted remote from the second spring with its free end movable generally along the other end portion of the second spring, and a latch part on the free end of the handle engageable with the other end portion of the second spring releasably to hold it against movement about its pivot.

3. Iron supporting linkage comprising a pair of links pivotally interconnected at one end, one of the links being formed at its other end for connection to an iron, means at the other end of the other link for connection to a supporting member to support the links and the iron above an ironing board, a spring connected to the links urging them in one direction about their pivotal interconnection to raise the iron, a laterally flexible bell crank spring unit pivoted at its center on one of the links and having end portions extending outward from the pivot and angularly movable relative to each other as the spring flexes, a part on the other link spaced from the pivotal interconnection thereof, to engage one end of the bell crank spring and to move from the free end toward the pivot thereof when the links are moved in the other direction about their pivotal interconnection to lower the iron, and a releasable latch engageable with the other end of the bell crank spring to hold it against movement about its pivot.

4. Iron supporting linkage comprising a pair of links pivotally interconnected at one end, one of the links being formed at its other end for connection to an iron, means at the other end of the other link for connection to a supporting member to support the links and the iron above an ironing board, a spring connected to the links urging them in one direction about their pivotal interconnection to raise the iron, a laterally flexible bell crank spring pivoted at its center on one of the links, a part on the other link spaced from the pivotal interconnection thereof, to engage one end of the bell crank spring and to move from the free end toward the pivot thereof when the links are moved in the other direction about their pivotal interconnection to lower the iron, a latch handle pivoted remote from the bell crank spring with its free end movable generally along the other end of the bell crank spring, and a latch part on the free end of the handle engageable with the other end of the bell crank spring to hold it releasably against movement about its pivot.

5. Iron supporting linkage comprising a pair of links pivotally interconnected at one end, one of the links being formed at its other end for connection to an iron, means at the other end of the other link for connection to a supporting member to support the links and the iron above an ironing board, a spring connected to the links urging them in one direction about their pivotal interconnection to raise the iron, the spring being spaced from the pivotal interconnection between the links and moving closer to the pivotal interconnection and being stressed when the links are swung in the other direction to lower the iron, a bell crank spring unit pivoted at its center on one of the links and having end portions extending outward from the pivot and angularly movable relative to each other as the spring flexes, a part on the other link to engage one end of the bell crank spring and move therealong toward its pivot as the links are swung in said other direction, and. a releasable latch engageable with the other end of the bell crank spring to hold it against pivotal movement.

6. Iron supporting linkage comprising a pair of links pivotally interconnected at one end, one of the links being formed at its other end for connection to an iron, means at the other end of the other link for connection to a supporting member to support the links and. the iron above an ironing board, a spring connected to the links urging them in one direction about their pivotal interconnection to raise the iron, the spring being spaced from the pivotal interconnection between the links and moving closer to the pivotal interconnection and being stressed when the links are swung in the other direction to lower the iron, a bell crank spring pivoted at its center on one of the links, a part on the other link to engage one end of the bell crank spring and move therealong toward its pivot as the links are swung in said other direction, a latch handle pivoted remote from the bell crank spring for movement of its free end generally along the other end of the spring, and a part on the free end of the handle to engage the other end of the bell crank spring and hold it against pivotal movement.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,231,896 Foster Feb. 18, 1941 2,369,732 Foster Feb. 20, 1945 2,644,255 Foster July 7, 1953 

